Kester Brewin

Just watched Charlie Brooker’s Gameswipe – a sideways history of video games. It’s hilarious, if rather pointless, but does brilliantly bemoan the lack of high-quality narrative in most games.
It reminded my of a fantastic piece on video games in the ever-fabulous Believer Magazine. In it, video game journalist Heather Chaplin notes:
‘Video games are good at [...]

There is a lot of debate in the news at the moment about what should be done with the wbankers. Should there be a ‘maximum wage’? Should they be allowed to earn obscene bonuses even though their banks have virtually collapsed? Should we all be held to ransom with the argument that they will go [...]

Having been reading a little of 2 Corinthians, I couldn’t help seeing something of the Pirate code in Paul’s words in chapter 6:
‘through glory and dishonour, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as imposters; known yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always [...]

One of the things I like about the web is that one can drop a pebble into it… and the ripples appear elsewhere.
For those (few, I know) who may have followed here but not elsewhere, there has been quite a lot of reaction to the posts on piracy, mostly ignited by Richard Sudworth’s repost to [...]

I’ll be honest: Dave Eggers is properly one of my heroes. I love his writing, and I love his philanthropy. And his love of pirates. Thanks to Tomal Price for putting me on to this TED talk of his. So inspiring.

I’ve not been a huge fan of Tarantino’s latter films, so wasn’t aching to see Inglourious Basterds anyway. But an excellent article in Atlantic – “Hollywood’s Jewish Avenger” has certainly made my mind up not to bother.
In it Jeffrey Goldberg interviews QT at length about the themes of the film, and those behind him who [...]

Small Screen Communion
iPod, phone
held close
and thumbed,
reflecting so dimly
on lichened branches
fingering the above,
are such small lights
on these paths
at night.
What possible guidance
could they offer?
Yet still
I look,
still we look,
so intently
at their ever-decreasing thinness
and ask of them
the same
as wafers
once gave.
© KB September 2009

The first Apple event went really well last night – thanks to everyone who came along and fertilized it with some great ideas. Looking good for the future. And thanks especially to Danny at Salt for giving us a great place to hold it. The next date is provisionally 15th October, so get it in [...]

[ Piracy 1 ] | [ Piracy 2 ] | [ Piracy 3 ] | [ Piracy 4 ] | [ Piracy 5 ] [ Piracy 6 ]

We began this series with a question – why is it that we are happy to allow our children to go to pirate parties, and involve themselves in [...]

[ Piracy 1 ] | [ Piracy 2 ] | [ Piracy 3 ] | [ Piracy 4 ] | [ Piracy 5 ]

What pirates do, as a rule, is emerge from the underbelly of a ’stuck’ orthodoxy and, by way of actions that are initially perceived as heretical, reinvigorate that practice. The heresy of [...]